Saturday, October 01, 2005

Jewish Education Discussion

The Fall issue of Jewish Action has a large section about Jewish school tuition. It includes an article by Jonathan Isler and Kenny Gluck, the architects of the new Lawrence School District Jewish education proposal discussed on this blog in great detail (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII). There is also some discussion on vouchers, a defense of tuition, and more. Check it out.

Why do we keep pushing for vouchers. They are illegal under most state constitutions, including New York, and there is essentially zero support for changing that other than from parents who are paying private school tuition. (The biggest opposition is actually in the suburbs where people are mostly happy with their expensive public schools and fear yet higher taxes.) And accepting government money will mean that the government will tell schools what to teach, who to teach, and who to hire. Do we really want that?

i wish there would be more of a movement against these higher tuitions. they are unbearable. they leave me with absolutely no hope in sight for any semblance of a happy life. and i'm not talking about the fancy stuff, just the basics. my husband works his butt off to give a fortune to them, and they are going to ask, as i am going to need assistance next year if i'll be able to eat, did you take a vacation? how else can he work 6.5 days a week if he can't leave it at some point and recharge? basically, you're not entitled to a vacation at all, your kids cannot go to (even the cheapest) camp or have any extra curricular activity (that part is not so bad on its own), you can amass no savings to retire on...tell me, what is the point of living if you spend it miserably wondering how you can get the money somehow so they won't punish your child? i've heard horror stories, switched my kids' school to save something, only to be revving up for the same thing next yr when my kid is to start high school. when someone commits suicide because of the pressure will they even care?